The body took over a day to find because it was wedged between two cement beams that buttress the overpass and split the road's eastbound and westbound lanes, said Officer James Miller, a police spokesman.

The dog's owner, a woman who was not identified, also was located Tuesday. Miller said the woman reported the dog missing to the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society after it ran away Friday. The owner said the dog had been acting strange earlier in the day, Miller said.

The dog went unseen until Sunday night, when a woman walking her dog near the overpass called police after spotting a young pit bull running wild near the busy road.

"She said the dog was running around about as fast as a dog could run," Miller said.

Police received several calls Monday morning from motorists who passed the dog's severed head during their morning commute.

Miller said the dog may have been hit by a snow plow or larger vehicle. Police, however, received no calls from anyone saying they had either hit a dog or witnessed one being struck.

Because they could not find the body at first, police were fearful of the gruesome possibility that the dog could have been intentionally decapitated. Miller said that grisly scenario now appears unlikely.